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fiOOKS and SO FortH By Frederic F. Van de Water (F.F.V.)
r1 rjs i. s aenfeBsion of failure^ We
bare bw" t?T?n?? to ***d D- H
I^-wTeace's "Wemen la Lore." We
^ raaehevi pa*r 2W by much painfnl
*JZtian We don't know what hidd?*n
?filiar lie ?vhead,'but i.H)Bae??ln*j the
f*jL*t of what we have managed to
*0\jhtoi tit. the thought ?if reading 250
f* ?^,0 u too murh for us to bear.
j? broken dawa We're licked. We
*Za no further.
? ? ?
-WoBvri in I*v' ' *** undersiflnd. was
TZfA-J | ths Society for
of Vice. All we hope
of a vindictive spirit is
? ta organization were
*Lim read it all the way through.
tahw* ' a . ?
jLiitosiir *e nave ^orn to'^' ^r- ****w"
jf-l?ok wa? '*sUC<' on'y in a 1v?,r> ed*
Thi? U ;t' ' 'vf *PPearancp at popu
trgm In our present condition, we
* Aiak of do more lamentable figure,
*_.?^'taore worthy of human sym
?"?^gt the morUl who paid $15 for
Jm^gmax in U>v< >s a ?rapoBit* of dull
t^jj Bikl dirt. The last named
***** u faat that rich, potent, primal
?^T^ ybjatk sll things spring. It is
^_ju aYwd. ?'nervate*! mire of -end
?w than :?? ginning*. There is a
taW BarsWeBomc scent of decadence
rt ft. AH th? while you ktpep wonder
w if in a ?nut. r stvyou won't have to
beMywir t*au
We con atand plain indecency a? well as !
the next man and perhaps K
have read "Habelais," the "Dccam
the "Heptameron," the "Contes
latique." Some day wP hop.- to rt-nd them
all again. They made us laugh. "Women
In I/ove" is infinitely more reticent, but it
makes us gag a little.
"How much cleaner and more digr
to be dead!*' one of the character?, in
"Women in Love" exclaims.
In?r
? a ?
l'p to this point we sound like an in
dorwment of the Vir.
We don't think for a moment that "Wom?
en in Love" L?i an immoral volume. We
don't think that even the weakest .spirit
could be *-werv??d one millimeter closer to
evil by reading it. That is, up to page
298, anyway. Rather, it han almost in?
spired us to lead a better Uto. We'd hate,
in the ensuing years, to become as weary
of the c-oarsr and staple varieties <.f in?
iquity as Mr. Lawrence's character
to be. Henceforth, moderation in all
thing!?, wilf be our motto.
There is nothing in "Women in Love"
as immoral aa the Vice Society, but then,
there never has heen in any book we've
CVPT T*ead, for that matter. After all, the
only thing that censorship foc*, ?a k?*<-p
any one from saying out loud what
one thinks, more or less. We have always
felt ?hat the executive or the individual
-orbo beJieres that society must have its
eara stopped or its eyes blindfolded for
fear it will fall ?part otherwi.?e has o
considerably lower opinion of bomanity, ?
iniluding himself, than we hn
e e e
We don't hk.1 "Wunen in Love" fur the ,
sann.? reason that arc don't like orchids.
Th?re is mor? Ivruuty in the flowers than \
in the book, but both Of them have the
fuint, repellent c? nt of decay about them.
It i.*-r.*t tl...t lowot ?if dira.I? n- ? that ,
has CO to bin: ilnwn and n\sn with
our job half done. We ?topped because ;
one-fourth of 11 idea .
what the rhar..
nn?l the oth?r three QjOOri t jn
the least h Up to pavre ?98 we i
ran across only one drowning and a near?
murder, nnd n?ither of these appealed to
us especially. The rate _ cor
"I agree," say t the
| Wille zur Um ht is a base and petty thing, j
But with UM Mino la cat) it is the .
to bring this feoaole rat into a pure
equilibrium, a transcendent and abiding
rapport writb the "ringla male. Whereas,
without him, a? you see, she is a mere
atray, a fluffy, sporadic bit <.f rh.i<??. It
is a volont? de pouvoir, if you like, a will
to ability, taking pouvoir a? a verb."
The person quot<il above bad been, per?
haps we ought to explain, beaned with a
lapiivlasuli ball in the haml of a woman
; who ??eemed U> fe-J that this was the only
1 way she could expre?? h?r pasj-ion for bim
ad?*-iuately. W? *t it wa? this
experience that nSsdr him talk that way
if all the re?-t of Ihr characters d
rpeak quit?* a? obsearely
And then there*? another woman wh?i,
in the midst <>f her escort's half-hearted
efforts at conrling, | ?
n by ?winging on hi* jaw. W? know
littl?' or nothing about the love life of th#
Kng!i?h. I?ut we're certain that th;?'
of thing would never do with u?.
Two of Mr. Lawrence'? favorit-- u.r.l?.
seem to be "loins" and "thighs," and we'll
have to admit that h< '? .,?- ? ?l
his women i-haract? rs wear ?ait
' thusiasm.
A* for hi.? direct ?juotation? from his
characters, we think Mr. Lawrence thinks
he writ?"? c?.nv?T?atiiin like O*'
? ? ?
It may be rca.i'y that "Women in I
deal? with and we oursclf may he hvintf
rll utiiawnr?' in a world of mi-i
r.ham. But we know what w.'r? -^-ing to
do thin evening. Wr'n* going to read an
eld. red-barked, drippingly sentimental1
hook ?gain and gulp like a darned fool
over Scrooge and the Cratchita. And then
we're going to Wd early so that nothing
will disturb the entrance of a certain ata?
gt.5t person over the a.obentoa l?-*?gs of ou*t?
tiroiilsrc.
We haven't ?oren the mort elemental
(Tualiflcationa for a critic of literature. Wa
r-till believe in Charle? Dicken? and Santa*
flan :.
James Joyce's First Literary Effort
tat kMio?rnpKv h'rneit Bogd appends
tO tnktlorlg ?tW?, of "The ?risk Uten
ljL?i?rn"** lu?* vmder Jamut J?ger'? no
??g tkese items "The Ihxy of tka Rabl
int.' 'Cham.hr * Music," "ExiUt," "Dubl
m" "A Per trat! ?/ tae ?4rt?t* as a Yon
g*?' end "l ly?*'?.** Tkroagk the eourU
?'Mtrglt. Col*rn u<e are permitted to repr
Or jtrst item herewith, a? being not only
nitre it U Joya ? ? Hector?, but a? taCniUriea
attruUng is tha: it thovs Joyet't . rsf cut
, f?J r.is K. i? Dublin,
The II?) of the Rabblement
N\N. said the Nolan, can be
? true or the good uni?
he a*.i ra the multitude; and t
?artrst. though he may employ t
is ver: lareful to isolate himse
.pie of artistic econo?i
a time of crisis, and t
_jen t form of art I.
J??t?r-a(' I hj desu?rate sacrifices, it
muge to "*e the artist making term? wn
the t-teWii ?at The Irish Literary Theat.
is tie ht? t movement of protest again
tee ster' and falsehood of the mode?
*t_-*. II..If a century ago the nota <
?rote?'. ? . utteTod In Norway, and ?im
(ses it, ? ve ral countries long and dishear
?wing ..lea have Itreen fought against tl
?asti of prejudice and misinterpretation at
ndic What triumph there has been hei
s&d there is due to stubborn conviction, an
every movement that has oat out heroicall
achieved a little. The In.?.h I,iterar
Theater (.ve out that it was the rbajnpio
t?f progress, and proelaimed war ?gain?
eornmercialism and vulgarity. It had parti;
ad r good it? word and was expelling th
?Id devil, ?rhen after the first encounter i
Bsrrv.i?It-red to the popular will. Now, yo-oi
?wpu ?r devil is more dangerous than jroui
?sigar devil. Bulk and l?ngs count foi
??Bi-tt '?. and be can gild his speech arUy
|c ha? prevaiUsd once mere, and the Irish
Literary Theater must now be considered the
jtaperty uf tin1 rabblement of the au*?t
Wlated rar.1 in Europe.
It will l-e int^i-esting to examine here.
TW official ni-gan of the n-evr-me-nt spoke of
fr-dtuirir r iiropcan ma5t-*rpieces, but the
utter wer no further. Such a pi-ajeet was
ihalauly -lecesaary. The cernaorship is
tWBttless In Dublin, and the directors eauld
law *pTodu. .1 "Ghosts* or '*Thc Dominion
?I *h-%*M?' if they chose. Nothing can be
??a? tat.1 '.ho forces that dictate pahlie
jadfsuit ? ..ilmly confronted. But, of
?worse, the director? are ?by of presenting
Ibsen, Tolstoy or Hauptmann, wher<
"Connteaa Cathleen" is pronounced vicious
and damnable. Kvrn fer a technical reason
this project was neeiHiaary. A nation which
never advanced eo far as a miracle piny af?
fords no literary model to the artiV, and
he mnst look abroad. Earne?t dran
of the ?saeond rank, Sodermaun Hjornton and
Giacosa, can ?arritc very mi.rh bett?r plays
than the Irish, Literary ???Water ha.? ?tuprd.
But, of course, the director?, would not like
to present snch improper writers to the un
cultiva I <*d, much le*? to the cultivated, rub
blerar^it. A re or?, in ply. ?he rabblcmer.t. placid
and intensely moral. Il enthtreaet] in boxes
?nd galleries amid a hum of approval la
he.a-tia Trionfarte and those who think that
Kchegaray i> "morbid." ?H t ttei coyly when
Melissndr Irin down her hair, ara not sur?
bot they ?re th-- *? i
nal and po"**..(- pica or?
Menn while, ?thai of the art; *
e*roi?'! " **r ?* Mr- l cat? at i ?
that he has or has not geniaa. In aim ?nd
form "The Win?! Amor
tf tl ?
JOSEPH C0SR4D tea* tixtr-firr ?ew? old ...i Ih.mhir O
o' the Magi" fa ?tory which one of the grea?>
Ru??ian? might have written) ?how? what
Mr. Yeataaaean do whin he break? with the?
half gods. But- an rsthete has a fl-istirrtf
wil' and Mr, Yeata's treacherous instinct of;
adspubility must be blamed for hi? r |
?rroeiation with a platform from which f\cri
?elf-r-ipeet should have urged bim to re-?
' Mr. Msrtyn ?ad Mr. Moore are not
?arrHera of much originality. Mr. MsrtyTS?
H: al.la d si he is by sn |? style, had
none of the fierce, hysterical power ef Strind'
b<-re, whom he ?ujrgest? at time?, nnd with
him one ?? conscious of a lack of bn naliB
?ha Mi? nobilitf
rain pbsssges. Mr. Moore, however,
ha? Wfjnderful mimetic ability, and ?r.ra<J
ala book? mij'ht have entitled him
honor amor,
ist?. But though "Vain Fortuna- perhaps
. add ?omf of -K-atha r I
? work. Mr. Moore I? really ?trug?
? backwash of that tide which has
advaa llaubert through Jal
to d'Anr.on?.io: for two entire era? II
!nme Bovary' and "II Fuoc-o. I{
i? plain fro- ." and the later i ?
that Mr. Moore is beginning to draw uport
a-rary account and th? quest of a new1
Impoli"* may eiplnin his recent stsrtlir.i*
?Converts are in tb<< movement
now and Mr. Mocre ?nd his island linv. been
.?rnir-d. Put however frankly Mr.
Mcore m?y misfjuute Pater ?nd Ttrgnnieff t?
lis new impulse has ne kind
of relation to the future of art
? ? a
In such circumstances it ha? become inv?
perative to define the position. If an ar'iat
courts the favor of the multitude he etnreai
- the contagion ef it? fcUchlsm and .lr!ih
;-i-eption, and if h.- joins in a popu?
lar movement he doca to st hi? own risk. There
: tersry Theater, by it? ?ur
I to the troll?, has cut itself adrift from
ne of advancement. Until he ha? freed
him?elf from the mean influence about him
sodden enthusiasm and clever insinuation and
every flattering Influence of vanity and low
ambilion no fflan i? an artist at all. But hi?
true aervitude t? that he inherit.? a will
' broken by doubt and a soul that yields up all
its hat?' to a cares*'; and the most seeming
? independent are those who' an the fir.t to*
! r?assuma their bond?. But Truth deal*
largely with ns. Elacwhero Unnr ac raeW
who are ?rorthy to carry on the traditu n o?
the old maater ?bo i.? dying in ChrL?ti?.nis.
He ha? already found hU successor lo th*
- of -Michael Kranacr," and the thir-l
miniMcr ??U not be wara?ng when his -hotit
come?. Kven now tha*. brur may b<* ?und*
icg by the door.
- ? IS, TPfll. J